Collaborative design of material handling systems using distributed virtual reality environments

Abstract

In order to integrate with an upcoming ecosystem of interconnected products and services, adaptive, intelligent and autonomous material handling systems (MHS) are being deployed in modern logistics facilities, enabling them to cope with requirements for high flexibility, configurability and reusability. Recent advances in virtual engineering and virtual reality (VR) technologies offer new possibilities for remote collaboration between companies regarding the design process of MHS, which involves several stakeholders. In this paper, we present a 3D collaborative virtual environment (3DCVE) as part of distributed multi-platform software for supporting MHS design tasks in logistics facilities. We describe how an in-memory data grid technology can be used for the distribution of data and the enabling of consistent user access to the virtual environment (VE). The main focus is put on the use-case of facility layout planning presenting the implementation of approaches regarding user interaction and collaboration.